


A Chance at a Better Future

by murksiuke



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adoption, Comfort, Crying, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, One Shot that May or May not be expanded, Time Travel, Young Severus Snape, implied - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 05:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15429648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murksiuke/pseuds/murksiuke
Summary: Having ended up in the past, Harry decides there is only one possible way to proceed.He is going to repay his debt to Severus Snape.





	A Chance at a Better Future

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, i have no idea what this is.  
> Its completely random, ooc, and way too short.  
> Might be a bit stuffy in the beginning, i haven't written in a while.  
> Eh, i thought it might be cute?

Harry stood in front of a rundown house. The lawn was overgrown; several bricks from the house threaten to fall off, and the windows were dark from dust. Truly, if it weren’t for the child reading by the window, Harry would have thought the house was abandoned a good while ago. As it was, taking in his current surroundings – houses of similar states crowding one another, large piles of discarded bits of wood, glass and metal in every other yard, incoherent yelling coming from a house on his left – only made him more sure of his latest – but definitely not last – crazy idea.

He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and raised his hand to knock.

 

* * *

 

“Hello Severus. My name is Harry. Can I ask how you got those bruises on your arm?” And oh, didn’t those marks, which looked far too big on the child’s skinny arms, fill him with incredulous anger.

“…I fell down a tree.” Came the mumbled response. _Yea right_.  “Are you a social worker?”

“Not exactly. Tell me, Severus” At this Harry crouched down, and looked Severus in the eyes. “Did your mum tell you about magic?”

Immediately, Severus looked around him with wide eyes, going as far as checking if the door was really closed, obviously fearing that someone – _his father?_ – would hear. Only then he looked back at Harry and narrowed his eyes. “Of course. Mum is a witch. And what do you mean, ‘not exactly’?”

“Well,” Harry scratched his head, “I am a wizard. I knew your grandfather, and I owe him a large debt, and since I cannot repay him anymore, I came to see if I could somehow repay  it through you instead…”

“Not my mum?” Interrupted Severus.

“Well, her too, but she wants me to help you, and only you. So if you would like, well,“

_Dammit, this whole thing sounded a lot better in his head._

 “Okay, I will be frank. I would like you to come live with me from now on, and I would like to become your guardian.”

There. He said it. Now the quaffle was in Severus court.

Except he wasn’t saying anything.

_Okay, that’s reasonable, it was a rather shocking request._

He will give him another minute.

Five minutes later, Severus was still staring at him.

“…Severus? I…”

“I don’t want you to kill my mum!” Yelled Severus, pointing an accusing finger at him.

...

...

...

_What._

“What.”

“What do you mean ‘what’? You are the one talking about making me an orphan!”

Harry looked around, maybe Severus was talking to someone else? Because he certainly was not following this conversation anymore.

“Uh, when exactly did I talk about anything like that?”

“You said you wanted to adopt me.” Now Severus was the one looking lost, as if he had any right to do so after the last five minutes.

“…You do realize that you don’t have to be an orphan to be adopted, right?” Harry was pretty sure Severus already knew this, I mean even as a kid he should be pretty smart, right?

“…You don’t?” _Or maybe not. Man, you gotta love child logic._

“Definitely not. Though it is more common in the wizarding world than in the muggle one – couples who cannot have children often adopt muggleborns” – after stealing them from their muggle parents, which was somewhat similar to what Harry was trying to do here- “So it’s not surprising you didn’t know about it.” Harry awkwardly smiled, remembering that it’s important not let a child feel bad for not knowing something.

_Man this parenting thing is going to be hard._

And then Severus shyly smiled as well, and all the thoughts fled from Harrys head, as he was too busy trying not to coo at the adorable sight.

But the smile quickly crumbled. “So mum doesn’t want me anymore?” Oh no, were those _tears_?

“Oh course she wants you!” Harry quickly jumped, panicking at the sight of a child tearing up. “But she wants you to be safe and happy, and she knows you aren’t, not whilst you are here. She is only letting you come with me – and only if you want to come with me, of course – because I swore an unbreakable oath not to deliberately hurt you, neglect you, or make you unhappy.” –well, sans mild punishments on the last, but Harry could explain that later, once Severus actually decided something.

“Y-you cannot swear an unbreakable oath! Those are very dangerous! You can die from it!” Shouted Severus, looking completely indignant. Well, as indignant as a small child can be, which was not a lot. Harry had to resist cooing.

“I know. I was very, very careful on how I phrased it, promise.”

Severus sat down to think, crunching his eyebrows very hard, and looking generally adorable. Harry decided to give him a few minutes, taking his time to look around the room.

Honestly, it didn’t have much – a small bed, a wardrobe with a missing door and some clothes inside, and a simple table with a stack of rattled books on it. Everything was old, wooden, slightly broken, and obviously second – or third – or fourth – handed. No toys anywhere in sight, no posters on the walls.

But it didn’t look as miserable as the rest of the house, and it took Harry few moments to realize why.

While the rest of the house was dark, dusty, and dirty, this room was meticulously clean. Even if the only window in the room was rather small, it was freshly scrubbed and allowed more light than anywhere else in the house, making the room look bright in comparison.

_So the lack of personal hygiene was due to a lack of warm water and things like soap, rather than ignorance. That’s good._

_And very, very sad._

“Can my mum come with me?” A child’s voice broke Harry’s musings.

_Shit. This will be hard._

“I’m sorry kid.” Sighed Harry. “Your mum doesn’t wish to leave.”

“But why? She’s not happy or safe here either, and…” Oh god, now there was actual crying. _Shit shit shit._

“Come here.” Harry awkwardly crouched and hugged the crying child.

  _Right, hugs, I know how hugs work._

_…How do hugs work?_

_Shit I’m awful at this._

_Okay I can…_

_Pet his head?_

_Is that something people do?_

_I don’t know!_

_HELP._

“I’m sorry Severus. I know it isn’t right, but you mum is a grown up. I can’t really tell her to do anything she does not want to do, even if it’s obvious to us that she is making a mistake. It’s a very sad thing, but nobody can help someone who does not wish to be helped.”

 

* * *

 

 

A good ten minutes of crying, and another five of quiet sniffing later, Harry tried to start the conversation again.

“Do you need more time to think about all this, Severus?”

It was quiet for a few more minutes, and then, “No.” Came the quiet response.

 

* * *

 

 

Half an hour later, one Tobias Snape came home after a gruelling day at work.

Another ten minutes and several completely illegal spells later, a quiet crack echoed through the street.

Whilst the crack went unnoticed among the inhabitants of Spinner’s end, over the next few days several of them remarked over the disappearance of a small child, a disappearance that was quickly explained by the boys parents as a child being given away to relatives that were better off.

People around them understood, some were even envious. After all, children that grew up here rarely had the bright future everyone wanted for their child.

At least this one had a chance now.

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> And thats it!  
> I honestly can't decide how old Severus is, probably around eight give or take a couple years. He hasn't met Lily yet, at least.  
> I would love to hear your thoughts, and be sure to point out any mistakes I made - kinda hurried this thing along. Oh well. Hope you had fun regardless!
> 
> I know its tagged as "may or may not be expanded", but don't expect too much - Im still in uni so i probably wont be able to write for a good while, and by the time I can write, i will probably have no idea how i wanted to proceed from here. Well, we shall see.


End file.
